Different rules seem to apply to the wealthy

Opinion: If you're well-heeled, pretty much anything goes most of the time

Schlumberger Ltd. is "the world's largest oil-field services company," according to The Wall Street Journal. Schlumberger has agreed to pay $232.7 million in fines for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and Sudan and admitted to falsifying payment and shipping data. All of that is just wonderful except … wait for it … no Schlumberger employees will be charged with any criminal activity.

This is reminiscent of lucrative fraud without consequences in the financial industry. Most notable perhaps was HSBC's money- laundering for Mexican drug cartels for which HSBC agreed to pay a $1.9 billion fine in 2012. No bankers were indicted. You may remember the global economic collapse precipitated by sub-prime mortgages that were bundled into AAA investments. No one in the credit rating agencies was ever indicted for his part in those completely bogus AAA ratings.

The Rule of Law is the principle that "no one is above the law" or that the rules apply equally to everyone. Clearly if you're well-heeled, pretty much anything goes most of the time. It seems that the Rule of Law is no more, or at least not taken very seriously, unless you're before the district magistrate for some traffic violation.